1. Field of the Invention
The present invention concerns an applicator of the type for applying a make-up product. Such an applicator may be used in particular for applying blusher, eye-shadow, cheek rouge, lipstick, foundation cream, care cream, suntan lotion or a hair product. More generally, it may be used for the application of any friable product. The invention also concerns a casing-type application unit comprising at least one applicator in accordance with the invention.
2. Description of the Related Art
To date, various types of applicators have been known for applying make-up products. There are known, inter alia, "matchstick" or "Q-tip" type applicators taking the form of a stem having one end charged with cosmetic products by immersion or by spraying. This first category of known applicators has the drawback of depositing too much of the product during application. Moreover this type of applicator does not allow the applied product to be softened. Finally, the configuration of these applicators generally makes them fragile.
Applicators are also known which have a cosmetic-type product pressed or compacted on the surface of the applicator. A major drawback of these applicators is their low capacity. Generally these applicators are used as samplers.
Finally, "puff" type applicators are used in combination with a compact having at least one pan in which the cosmetic products are cast or compacted. These powder compacts are relatively expensive.
FR-A-2642675 describes a dispenser for a solid or pasty product contained in a reservoir having a dispensing opening, the product being pushed towards the dispensing opening by means of a motor mechanism. According to this document, the edges of the dispensing opening are covered with a coating such as a flocked coating or a foam of small thickness so as to allow the product to be applied. The device described in this patent operates in a complicated manner and is relatively expensive to make.
There also exist other types of applicators of the type often used for applying shoe polish, in which the product to be applied is contained in a tube having mounted thereon a foam block which is pierced by a hole delimiting a duct communicating with the tube. In these applicators, the product is brought to the application surface by exerting pressure on (squeezing) the walls of the tube so as to cause the product to pass into the duct of the applicator and bring it to the application surface. Apart from their size, these devices are not suitable for products of the makeup type, mainly because of the difficulty of correctly dosing the product applied.
FR-A-1272557, U.S. Pat. No. 1,899,386 and U.S. Pat. No. 2,450,919 describe applicators for a product, generally in powder form, in which the powder is contained in a recess arranged in a foam block and the free end of the recess is covered by a screen in the form of a perforated sheet, a fabric or other porous material. In these devices the product is free in the recess thus formed, which renders the application of the dosed product difficult. Moreover, the orifices, pores or other holes which are arranged in the sheet obturating the hollow recess are liable to become quickly clogged up, which renders the device unusable. Finally, such devices are not suitable for products of a greater consistency, such as lipsticks.
The device described in U.S. Pat. No. 1,524,008, just like those described in U.S. Pat. No. 1,899,386 and U.S. Pat. No. 2,450,919, has a bottom forming an integral part of the foam block in which the recess is arranged. Soap contained in this recess is not joined to the recess, which confers an increasing axial mobility in the course of use. This mobility, in particular axial mobility, renders the application of the product very difficult to dose in a precise manner, this difficulty being accentuated since the bottom is not rigid or even semi-rigid. However, these problems of accuracy and metering of the application are not critical when the product is a soap, as in U.S. Pat. No. 1,524,008.